Fatal Darkness
by ZombiesAteMyBrain13
Summary: Jellal Fernandes was an average man who lived an average life until one day a rather unfortunate series of events ruined everything for him. His life was left in shambles and that's when the redheaded woman appeared before him. She offered him salvation and blinded by recent events he joined her in Fairy Tail. Story is rated for the content.
1. Chapter 1

_October 22nd, Monday_

The wind howled as rain battered against a window in the late hour of the night. The cracking sound of the thunder was everywhere and coming from the dark clouds lightning struck here and there, lighting up the sky for a second before vanishing. Jellal Fernandes, age twenty-five, sat at the bar in the old tavern simply drinking away his emotions downing his fifth glass of Whiskey. The man just couldn't get over the fact that he was now unemployed. Why would his company do that to him? He was a hard worker and he always showed up on time. He just couldn't wrap his brain around the whole idea that he was 'let go'. What did he do to deserve this? Was it bad karma? What did he do that made God think that he deserved this? The economy was horrible as of late so finding another job would be almost impossible and mentioning this news to his girlfriend would be even more awful considering the fact that she didn't work as it was.

"Another sir?" The bartender asked him as he cleaned a glass with a rag.

He held up his hand and shook his head. The man behind the counter understood his motions and then made his way down the bar to see if anyone else wanted another drink. The blue haired man grabbed his glass off the counter and finished off what little was left in one chug. He set the glass back down as he stood, getting ready to pay off his tab for the night. As he pulled his wallet from his pocket two officers approached him from behind.

"Jellal Fernandes?" The pudgier of the two officers asked the young gentleman who stared at them with his vision fuzzy. He didn't wish to speak, as he knew he wouldn't be able to form proper sentences. He simply nodded at the officers as he grabbed the back of the bar chair to help him keep his balance. The officers looked at one another before the one officer continued, "we have something we need to inform you about. Why don't you sit back down?"

He nodded and sat back down in the chair that he had been seated in for quite some time. He placed an elbow on the counter and rested his head in his hand, intertwining his fingers in his long cobalt locks. The two officers remained standing before him, "Mr. Fernandes, we just received a call from a woman named Mrs. Milkovich recently. She called to inform us that she received a phone call from her daughter about three hours ago. She said that her daughter was acting rather odd when she spoke to her earlier. When she went to visit her at her apartment the door was unlocked and she found her daughter laying on the couch," the taller of the two officers explained.

Jellal stared at the officers with a confused look on his face as he raised a brow. He was trying to comprehend what they were saying to him. The two officers looked at each other once more before the taller one spoke again, "Mr. Fernandes, your girlfriend was found dead, her mother wanted us to inform you of this."

Jellal's green eyes widened as he stared at the officers. He stood and steadied himself by placing a hand on the bar counter. "Why," he mumbled softly under his breath as he punched his fist into the bar countertop. It drew everyone's attention as all their eyes were plastered on him, "why would something like that happen to Ultear?" His voice was a bit louder and uneasy, as if he was holding back all of his anger. His body began to shake. He punched the bar once more, causing the knuckles on his right hand to bleed.

The two officers restrained him some and sat him back down, "Mr. Fernandes, allow us to take you home."

"Let go of me!" He yelled as he swatted the officers' hands away from him and stood up in a rage of anger. He was shaking violently as he ran a hand through his blue bangs that were sticking to his sweaty forehead. He quickly removed himself from the small rundown bar not knowing what else there was for him to do.

He walked outside right into the storm not caring how wet he got or even if he was struck by a bolt of lightening, his life was already falling to shambles as it was so what else could possibly go wrong now? There was a chill in the air and thunder rolled across the sky as if someone was bowling on the top of the clouds. Fat raindrops splashed on the sidewalk, forming puddles like pools of tears that Jellal would never cry. The smell of alcohol on his breath lingered. Jellal looked up at the street light and it revealed the rain in the darkness. The sky was a million shades of gray painting its own pictures in the clouds. He placed his hands in his jacket pockets as he wandered into an alleyway just right of the bar, stumbling. He slid his back down the brick wall that belonged to the little italian bistro just right of the rundown bar he had just exited. He bent his head back on the cold bricks and allowed the rain to hit his face. Another flash of lightning and a crack of thunder lit up the sky and more rain began to fall. Jellal let out a sigh as he tilted his head back down as if in a trance and stared at his bloodied knuckles.

"Damn." He spoke softly as he shook his hand a few times before placing it down in a puddle of muddy water. The rain made his blue hair stick to his face and the raindrops rolled down his cheeks and chin and onto his shirt. They were acting like the tears he wanted to cry but knew he never would. He was mumbling incoherently to himself not minding the fact that he was sitting in a dark alley as the rain poured down from the gloomy dark sky.

"Jellal," came a female's voice. His head shot up and looked around. The voice was coming from behind him. He let his green eyes wander behind him. Nothing, only trash cans, "Jellal Fernandes." There it was again.

"I'm hearing things," he spoke to himself as he went to stand. As he fumbled to get up, he felt another arm take a tight hold of his and help him stand.

"No you aren't," a woman was standing before him in a black uniform that consisted of a cowl and mask that covered her face, boots, and armour with buckles and straps running down the chest, back, and across the waist. On her side Jellal could see two daggers. He stared at her with curious eyes.

"Jellal Fernandes, you have been chosen to join Fairy Tail," she spoke rather sternly to him. He could see her eyes staring intensely at him.

"What?" He raised a thin blue brow and moved some of his wet hair out of his face. He slowly moved his arm out from the woman's grip.

"Fairy Tail. If you wish to know more about it then go to the north side of town and look for the abandoned church. You enter it and walk down to the basement. You will be asked a question to which you answer with '_Family, my brother_'. We'll be waiting for you." Then the woman quickly climbed up the old fire escape, blending in with the blackness that surrounded her, making her seem like she was nothing more than a shadow.

"Wait a second, how do you even know I'll show up?" Jellal asked, his tone of voice was filled with nervousness and the desire to know even more.

"Your curiosity will get the better of you. See you soon Jellal Fernandes." And just like that, the woman vanished, leaving Jellal standing in the rain looking up at the old rusted fire escape attached to the bistro. The rain hit his face but he didn't seem to mind. What seemed to bother him the most was who that woman was, how she knew his name, and how she knew where she could find him.

"My curiosity?" He asked himself as he put the hood attached to his jacket onto his head, grabbed his pack of cigarettes out of his back pocket, put one in his mouth, and grabbed his lighter out of his front right pant pocket. He cupped his hand on top of the cigarette and lit it. He used the wall beside him to help him keep his balance as he walked out of the alley and faced the open road. It was not disturbed by idle bikers or speeding cars. The rain and the breeze caused the red and orange leaves that were on the ground to skip lazily along the quiet road; they hardly made a sound. Jellal walked silently in the rain, occasionally blowing smoke into the air around him. The night's wind was cold and the rain just made things colder, making gentle noises as the drops hit the abandoned road. It was weird not seeing a single soul out this late at night. But then again, unlike Jellal, people had to wake up early in the morning to head to their jobs, their livelihood, their way to support themselves and their family... Something Jellal no long had. He stumbled his way into a small park, the very same park where he met Ultear just four years ago. The same park where he and Ultear came every year on the anniversary of the day they got together. This small park consisted of so many memories that he had made throughout the years, but his mind wasn't focused on those memories. His mind was instead focused on the issue at hand. The blue haired man took one final puff from his cigarette before flicking the butt in front of him stepping on it with his boot. He took a seat on a bench and ran his long and slender fingers through his wet hair, "What's happening to my life?" He mumbled softly to himself as he looked down at his feet, "and more importantly who was that mysterious woman from earlier?" The words she spoke to him kept racing back and forth in his head, pounding on his brain as if it were a snare drum.

_Your curiosity will get the better of you._

"What did she mean by that?" He bit his bottom lip as he thought about the mystery woman's words. "Better yet, who the hell was she?"

_Family, my brother._

"What does it all mean? Are they here to help me? Perhaps they can put my life somewhat back on the track it was before." He grabbed hold of some of his hair in his hands.

_We'll be waiting for you._

"If they're waiting for me then surely I need to go. Perhaps God sent that woman to me as a sign of hope."

The rain was falling down even harder than it was before. A flash of lightning lit up the dull colored sky that surrounded him. He released the hair that was being held tightly in his hands and looked up at the sheet of black fabric that covered the Earth above his head. The raindrops fell down upon his face and rolled down his cheeks. The hood that was once resting on his head fell back against the fabric of his coat. His cobalt coloured locks began to dance freely in the wind as it blew heavily. He closed his olive colored orbs and let out a deep breath, "maybe I should do as that woman instructed of me. It couldn't possibly hurt."

_Fairy Tail_

"But on the other hand I have no idea who these Fairy Tail people even are," he was arguing with himself. "They could quite possibly be out to kill me." Which was a possibility. Anything now a days was possible and could easily catch him off guard at any given moment. Him being laid off came as a shock and Ultear's death was the topping of the serving of depressing news he had received within the short time frame.

"However they probably came to me because they knew I needed help and guidance."

He sighed once more. He didn't know right from wrong or fact from fiction any longer. He stood uneasily and slowly began leaving the small park with his eyes plastered down on the ground as he walked. The rain fell against the back of his head and rolled down to the nape of his neck and down the back of his shirt. The cold water made him shudder as it touched his bare back. He shivered for a brief moment before he decided to place the black jacket's hood back over his head, trying to prevent that from happening again.

_You'll surely get sick if you don't dress appropriately for the cold season._

Ultear once told him that. As her smiling face, gorgeous chocolate orbs, and long raven coloured hair appeared in his mind he smiled softly to himself. He was going to miss her smile and of course her in general. She was the light in his life and without her he felt like he was nothing. Nothing but a mere shell that housed his former self. The old Jellal seemed to have died when he found out about his beautiful Ultear, leaving him nothing more to be than a walking corpse. He was nothing now; nothing but the pure darkness that covered him on this rainy night. He was nothing more than an empty frame just waiting to be filled with something to take away the loneliness that was now his life. As he thought about her and how she was now gone, his smile faded into a frown that matched in his eyes. The question of why written in the lines around his handsome features. Why was Ultear dead? Why did he lose his job? Why did this organization come to him? Nothing seemed to make a whole lot of sense, but at the moment nothing else really mattered. Jellal stumbled his way along the abandoned road and the rain itself started to lighten up as it fell into nothing more than a light drizzle that made pitter pat sounds on the very ground he walked on. He stepped on a crisp leave that crunched under his boot and the wind blew away the pieces. Jellal ran his fingers through his bangs and moved them from his eyes only to realize that he had stumbled his way to the old abandoned church without realizing what he had done. He leaned again an old and long dead elm tree and stared at the old building with crossed arms, "I guess my curiosity did get the best of me." He let out a sigh as he slowly made his way to the door.

* * *

There was a sense of abandonment in the building, it was old and forgotten. Jellal made his way through the door that hung wearily upon its corroded hinges. The paint on the walls peeled and flaked as though the church had a disease of the skin. The boards of the floor were warped through age and neglect. Though the windows were intact the buildup of grime acted like a natural curtain blanketing the light that entered and making it meagre. Webs from productive spiders adorned the corners, the fittings and anywhere else that they could spin two pieces of silken trappings together from. The pews where people once use to sit were covered in dust and the spiders had placed their webby homes there as well. Jellal looked around at the large stained glass window that was placed at the front of the church behind the altar where a pastor would stand to start the service every Sunday morning. The window showed the story from Genesis chapter three; the story of how Adam and Eve sinned, the consequences that resulted and the promise of a redeemer. Jellal looked up at the window and took a deep breath as he made his way down the dusty aisle with the pews on either side of him. His footsteps echoed all around him with each step he took.

_Walk down to the basement._

It was then that he saw the old door behind the altar that led down to the basement. With shaky hands he reached for the knob and before his hand even touched the old metal object, it opened, leading down into the darkness. He took a deep breath and began walking down, shutting the door behind him. As he walked down the stairs, he felt unsettled, something like the sense of walking right into trouble. They were gripping him by his boots, squeezing his feet. Then suddenly they let go. He lurched forward and then backward and nearly fell, he could have rolled down them perhaps even to his death but he didn't. He grabbed hold of the old railing next to him but suddenly he let go as he felt something scurry across the top of his hand. As he continued going further down the steps he saw several dimly lit candles lining either side of the stairs. The flames flickerd and moved back and forth, as if they were dancing to greet the young man. As he reached the bottom of the steps, he was greeted by another door, this one looking much newer than the one he had entered from. It looked as if it was made out of stone with a skull chiseled out of it. He raised up a hand to knock but before he could, a mysterious voice asked the question that he was told would be asked, "what is the greatest bond in life?"

As he lowered his hand, he answered with a shaky voice, "family, my brother."

The floor below him began to shake violently below his feet and he grabbed onto the railing that was next to him in order to keep his balance. As he kept his focus on the door, he saw it opening, leading into a dark room that wasn't illuminated by any sort of light. When he could finally stand up steadily, he entered the room, watching as the door shut behind him, leaving him standing there in the darkness.

"Jellal Fernandes, you have arrived," it was that woman's voice from earlier. He could feel her presence coming from behind him.

He tried to pinpoint her exact location as he allowed his green eyes to search the darkness. He could hear footsteps approaching him from before him. As he shot his eyes forward, he could see several people approaching him holding candles, which made the room have a slight glow to it.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail." She spoke to him from her perch on the old shelf.

He looked up at her and watched as she jumped down and landed right before him, landing perfectly on her feet like an agile cat. She walked in front of him, towards the others who had joined him in the room he had just entered. The room was now illuminated by the light from a few dozen candles placed all around the large sanctuary that this group called their home.

"Why did you come to me?" He turned to face the woman who was removing the cowl from her head and her mask from over her mouth. Her long scarlet hair fell to her mid-back and she looked at him with chocolate eyes.

"You'll understand soon enough, now come with me." She began walking into a different room. He watched as her hips swayed side to side, and her hair danced with her movements. Jellal looked at all the other members in the room as he followed her to wherever it was was she was leading him. She took him behind an old tattered red curtain to a small room with several candles placed in a circle around a pentagram drawn in a red substance that looked as if it had stained the floor. The red headed woman kneeled down and looked up at him before she patted the ground next to her, "come. Sit down next to me Jellal Fernandes."

"You do know that you don't have to say my full name right? Just Jellal will do." He spoke as he sat down next to her.

"Yes, if that's what you want." She grabbed one of the daggers that was in one of the holsters on her hips and looked back at him with a emotionless face, "give me your hand."

"What for?"

"We must perform the sacrament to our unholy savior Zeref. Now please, give me your hand."

He nodded and held out his left hand to her. With one swift movement of her hand, a large cut appeared on his palm. The liquid ruby substance made red streams down his arm and fell between the spaces between his fingers. He watched as a few droplets fell onto the ground.

"Unholy savior Zeref, a newcomer has arrived in our sanctuary. He beckons for you to accept him into your arms with this sacrifice of his blood." She grabbed his hand and flipped it so his palm was facing down, "datum perficiemus munus."

More blood fell from his hand onto the ground. _Drip. Drip._ That was the sound it made as it hit the cold stone floor. As she released his wrist from her grip, she cut her own palm and placed it onto the ground, "I welcome thee into the family. Jellal Fernandes, welcome to Fairy Tail." She had just welcomed him in, bonding them in blood before their savior. She placed the dagger back into her holster at her side and stood, "welcome to the family."

She exited the room, leaving him sitting there alone. He looked at the fresh cut on his palm and watched as the blood made little streaks down his pale skin. He stood and shook his hand several times before exiting the small room through the tattered red curtain, joining the others of his new family. As he joined them, there he saw the mysterious scarlet haired female walking towards him with what appeared to be armour in her arms. The scarlet haired woman kneeled down on one knee and held the armour up to him, "for you my brother."

He nodded slightly as he accepted the gift with open arms. The red headed female stood and looked at another female standing behind her, "Lucy, please show Jellal where he shall be staying."

The woman named Lucy nodded, "please follow after me." Her voice was quiet. So quiet that he didn't even hear her speak at first. She began walking off toward the far back of the sanctuary and he looked at her momentarily before he shot his gaze back to the mysterious scarlet haired woman. He sighed, and began walking swiftly in order to keep up with the young female who seemed as if she was floating on the ground before them. She led him down a long corridor that seemed as if it was never ending until they reached a series of doors. She stopped before one of the last ones at the end of the hall, "this will be your room. You may change into your armour in there and get yourself situated." She then turned her back and started to walk away.

"Wait," Jellal spoke out, stopping her in her tracks. Lucy turned to face him.

"Yes Jellal, what is it you request of me?" Lucy asked, her voice still soft.

"It's nothing," he shot the girl a smile as he entered into his room. But really, it wasn't nothing. He wanted to ask her what the scarlet haired woman's name was so he could put her face to a name. But instead, he had just decided on finding the right time to properly ask the red head herself.

* * *

The room itself was small but it was large enough for him. There was a bed already made up with fresh linens. There were two candles that seemed as if they were freshly lit and placed on a small end table on the right of the bed. His boots made clunking noises against the cold stone floor as he walked inside the room and shut the door behind him. There was a tiny closet, that seemed as if it hadn't been used in quite some time. He sat on the bed and listening to it as it creaked. Jellal placed the armour down next to him. He rested an elbow onto his knee and placed his head into his uncut palm. He groaned out before he looked back at the armour sitting next to him. He stood as he stripped himself out of his jacket and his shirt, exposing his muscular chest. He was handsome, that was obvious for anyone to tell with his thin yet muscular build. He grabbed the armored shirt and held it in his hands, looking it over with his emerald eyes. The knock on his door startled him some, "come in."

The door opened slowly and in walked the mysterious red head that he knew nothing about. She stared at him briefly, before she spoke, "I apologize about the size of the room if it is not to your liking. Unfortunately this is as big as they come down here." She stared at him, not being able to remove her brown orbs from his well toned chest.

"It's quite alright um..." that's right, he had no idea what her name was, "I'm sorry but it seems as if I never really found out what your name was."

"Erza," her voice was soft as she spoke to him, "my name is Erza."

He smiled at her, "it's nice to properly meet you, Erza."

The two stared at one another for a while. His green eyes met her brown ones and they remained standing there in one spot and just stared at each other, as if they were allowing their eyes to stare right into the other person's soul, as if they wanted to burn a hole through the other's heart. The room was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop against the stone floor below their feet.

"So what did you come in here for?" He finally broke the silence between the two of them.

"Once you get dressed I wish for you to meet the other members of the family. Just join us out in the lounge once you feel as if you are ready," and with that, she left the room without saying another word. He watched her leave. He watched as her hips swayed back and forth, and he watched as her luscious scarlet colored hair danced behind her as she moved. She shut the door softly, leaving him along once in his room yet again.

He placed the armored top on quickly and then sripped himself out of his boot and his tattered jeans, throwing them across the small room. He grabbed the armored bottoms and slid them on. As he went to put on his own boots, it was then that he saw a pair that matched the armour he was wearing just sitting in the back of the closet. Unsure if they were there before, he raised a brow as he walked towards them. He brushed cobwebs aside as he grabbed the footwear and slid them onto his feet. He readied himself to exit the room when it was then that he remembered that there was still a pair of gloves, a mask, and a cowl laying on his bed. But what exactly did he need to wear those things now for? He wasn't going out to do anything. He was simply walking around in Fairy Tail's sanctuary getting ready to meet his new found family. He then exited the room, going to join the others.

* * *

The lounge was quite large. The members of Fairy Tail were all seated at a large table that was covered in an old red tablecloth, looking as if it matched the curtains that were placed around the sanctuary perfectly. Jellal walked in quietly and observed everyone's face. The people that he saw ranged in age, some being around his own age, and some being older. The only person that he could probably put a name with was Erza but that was surely about to change. His eyes met hers once again as he sat down at the opposite end of the table. The others greeted him with smiles before they looked back at the woman who was standing at an end of the long table.

"My brothers and my sisters, today we welcome a new member into our family. The blood ritual was made to our savior Zeref between he and I. This young man called out to us in his time of need and we answered him. He has much potential to become one of the greatest members that our guild has ever seen. As the leader of Fairy Tail I have chosen him for certain purposes, much like how I chose all of you. So now my brothers and sisters, it is time to meet our newest brother, Jellal Fernandes."

_Leader._

She was the leader of the group and she found him out of all 7,039,397,213 people. He felt honoured but at the same time he wondered about what it was that he had done that made him stand out to her that would make her want to welcome him into the family of Fairy Tail. The crowd around him began to clap and cheer as he stood, making himself known to the others that were sitting around him. Jellal was unsure of what he had gotten himself into, but now he knew that he was going to get along just fine with everyone else.

"I thank you all for your warm welcome my brothers and sisters. It is a honour to be here with all of you and I promise that I will do everything in my power to make you proud of me," he spoke with a smile on his face. He stared back at Erza who had her eyes simply locked on him and nothing else but him. In a way, it caused him to have an eerie vibe run down his spine but at the same time he really didn't seem to mind it. In a way it seemed as if she was filling the void that Ultear had recently left in his heart even though he knew it was wrong. He shouldn't be allowing someone he had just met to wiggle their way into his life. He knew that he shouldn't allow a girl to fill the void of his recently lost girlfriend. But then again, he just couldn't seem to push Erza away from him. It was as if she had him locked deep in a trance that she wouldn't let him out of. She batted her long eyelashes at him as she shot a smile in his direction. Her pink lips curled as she herself began to clap softly for him, truly making him feel welcomed openly into her group that was called a family.

* * *

**Hello everyone! This is my own Alternate Universe Fairy Tail story that has been made into a fanfiction from an original story that I am writing. The updates with this will be completely random, seeing as I'll update whenever I finish writing the chapters and then editing them. Anyway, this story is suppose to be sort of dark and twisted but seeing as this is the first chapter that might be sort of hard to tell. There are a lot of things that the first chapter didn't tell you, and those are things that you won't find out until much later. Now please know that I don't ship Ultear and Jellal in any way, however I needed him to have a now deceased girlfriend which is why I simply used her instead of Erza since, as you can tell, Erza plays a big role in this story thus far. A lot of weird things are going to happen throughout the course of this story but that's the point, it's dark and twisted. So what did you guys think of this story so far? Do you all love it? Or do you hate it? Either way, let me know with your reviews. See you all again when I post the next update.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Oh my gosh you guys, thanks for your lovely reviews!**

**Thunderfall : Well thank you! I wanted the opening to be a strong one, to really draw people in and make them interested in what they're about to read. I sort of want to make the reader feel as if they're living through the scenes with Jellal. Also, to answer your question, yes. In my original story the group is based a lot off of the Dark Brotherhood in Skyrim. ****By the way, wait no longer, here's the second chapter! I hope you enjoy it!**

**xxxMissAlicexxx : I'm glad this is something unique and different for you to read! I always find it entertaining when authors wrote stories that I've never read before so I always try to do the same. I also do plan on continuing with this story. It's something of my own creation that is an original story turned fanfiction. Chapters will be updated once I finish the corresponding chapter that needs to be updated and get all the names and things edited**

* * *

_October 23nd, Tuesday_

Jellal yawned as he trucked his way deep through the woods behind the church with Erza leading the way. He watched as the large glowing sphere rose slowly through the dull morning sky. Casting sunbeams in every direction while it illuminated the female walking before him. He stared at the leaves that remained on the trees above him as the colors made by the rising sun changed, growing more vivid with the passing time, making the sky more radiant as the sun climbed higher in the sky. The young man placed his gloved hands on his head as they made their way deeper into the forest. It was then that he bumped into Erza's back because of her sudden stop and his lack of attention. He stood upright and looked at her as he rubbed his skull, "why are we stopping?" He asked sleepily.

She glanced back at him, her ponytail swung over her shoulder, and she smiled, "I want to test your loyalty to us." She pointed to the rundown shack before the two of them.

"What do you expect me to do in this shack?" He scratched his head as he raised a blue brow at her.

"Inside there are a few people and one of those people someone wants dead. It is you who must kill one of them and I'm not telling which one is the one that has the contract out for their death." She smiled slyly at him as she opened the old decayed door that led inside the shack. This is where Jellal saw the three people all three people wearing execution hoods, arms tied behind their backs, and on their knees. He stared at them trying to figure out who exactly of these people had done something that would make someone want them dead. From what he could tell the person in the middle was a woman. As he stood there he felt a slight push come from behind him as he lurched forward a tad. He stared into Erza's brown eyes as he took a few steps forward walking into the forgotten place. He grabbed one of the daggers from his holsters that he had received at his initiation party last night. Jellal gripped it tightly in his hand as he walked towards the group of people as Erza stood behind him leaning in the doorway with her arms crossed. She watched him with curious eyes as he walked towards the trio of hooded people. One of which will have their life end and they won't even be able to see their killer. Jellal stared at the three people with cold olive eyes as he kneeled down before them. His eyes were those of a man who was on a mission that was life or death. He licked his lips in a malicious way as he held his dagger up to the woman's throat. He heard her gasp through the hood over her head and then he spoke, "tell me something dear woman, why do you deserve to live?"

"I- I have a family. I live for my children. It would hurt them far too much if I was no longer in this world!" The woman was begging. Jellal swore he could even hear her begin to sob. He chuckled slightly and grinned to himself as he shifted his position to be in front of the man to the woman's left.

"Now you, what's your reason for living?" Jellal asked holding the dagger to the man's throat much like he had done to the woman just moments before.

The man gulped before he answered, "I have plans for my future. I don't want to die before I can carry out all of those plans."

Jellal stared at this man longer than he would have liked. He seemed so familiar to him like he knew him from somewhere, "what's your name?" His voice was soft, but it was cold enough to kill.

"Tate Brody," the man spoke nervously.

Jellal furrowed his brows as he heard that name escape the man's lips from behind the hood. He knew who he was. This was a man that Jellal never wanted to hear from again. This man had hurt his beloved Ultear long before he came into the girl's life. He was a man that Jellal could never forget for as long as he lived. He smirked and made his way to the other man. Instead of kneeling down in front of him like he had the others he walked behind this man, but he didn't dare hold the dagger to his throat. His voice was soft when he spoke to the third person tied up in the shack, "why do you want to live?"

"I don't," the man spoke, "my life was always worthless. I was always unhappy. I beg of you to kill me right here and right now. Please," he begged softly, "just end my misery!" He began to cry, "I don't want to live anymore! Please! Just kill me!"

Jellal stood there behind the three people. He didn't move as he looked at them as his tall figure towered over. His murky green eyes then wandered over to Erza who was watching his every move carefully. She was watching trying to figure out what he was thinking; what he planned on doing. He walked behind the woman and bent down, making sure his lips were just mere inches away from her ear, "do you love your family?" He asked her.

"V-very mu-much so," she was still sobbing uncontrollably, "I can't leave them."

He grabbed the other dagger that he had at his hip. Both hands now occupied by the small weapons that have not yet been stained by blood. Without any second thought he instantly killed the woman and the man that he had so much hatred for. Blood rushed down from their necks as their bodies fell to the ground. He looked at Erza who grinned at him happily, "well done."

He cleaned the liquid ruby substance from his daggers on the clothing of those who had just left this earth by his blades. He heard as Erza drew closer and closer, her footsteps tapping on the old ground that her boots were walking on, "Tell me Jellal why exactly did you kill both of them?"

"Come again?" He was confused. He could have sworn that there were three people on the ground before him. Why did she say that there were only two people when he could have sworn that there was a third, a man to the woman's right.

"I told you to only kill one person. Why did you kill both of them?"

He stood there silently as he pondered her words over and over again in his head. _Two people? Were there not three people just moments ago?_ "I just felt like it, I guess."

She smiled at him before she turned her back on him, "take whatever it is you want from them you deserve it."

He nodded and began rummaging through the man's pocket. He took the money that he found in his wallet, the flask that was half full, the pocket knife, his zippo, and his untouched pack of cigarettes. He looked at the woman. There probably wouldn't be much on her that he would want, but it was worth a shot to look. Jellal took the money that she had on her, which wasn't a whole lot, and the necklace that was around her neck. A silver chain with a silver circular pendant hanging down that had a red gem right in the middle of it, "this might be a nice gift to give Erza." He spoke softly to himself as he began to walk out of the shack following the redhead in her wake. He let his eyes adjust to the light beaming down from the sun once he walked back outside only to see the Leader of Fairy Tail sitting in a tree with her arms resting on the leg that was in front of her while her other leg hung there freely, swinging back and forth. Her eyes were closed but she cracked a smile when he was right below her, "get what you wanted?"

"I did. I also grabbed a little something for you as well," he let the necklace hang down from his fingers as he held his arm up in the air. She opened one eye and looked closely at the gift he was presenting to her.

"Why did you take this for me?" She questioned him.

"I felt like it," he smirked up at her. "I guess you can call it my thank you gift for allowing me to join your family," he backed up a tad as she jumped down from the tree landing before him. She went to take the necklace from his hands, but he yanked it out of her reach, "allow me."

Erza rolled her stunning brown eyes and turned her back to him. The girl grabbed her ponytail and moved it over her shoulder. Jellal, with careful hands, placed the pendant on the woman's neck. She touched the pendant with delicate fingers and ran them over the intricate designs on the silver. She looked over her shoulder at him as she released her ponytail from her grip, "what made you kill both of those people in there?"

"Well," he had to think. What reason did he have for killing the mother? There wasn't one. He only had a reason for killing the man that he had so much anger for. "I didn't really have a reason. I did it because I felt like it is all."

She seemed pleased with his answer as she smirked slightly. She said nothing as she turned her vision to be facing forward looking at the small pond before her. The sweet mist came their way as the wind blew filling their lungs with the fresh and soothing air. The cool breeze entangled itself in Erza's long scarlet hair. The sun, that was high in the sky now, beamed on her face which allowed Jellal to see her in a new form of light, the natural light that Fairy Tail kept themselves away from. She looked over at him and her eyes sparkled like topaz gemstones. Her eyes were the sun shining off of the water that was before them. They pulled him in and he just couldn't seem to look away from her.

"So tell me," he spoke as he placed his hands on his head and looked out at the water, "what made you start Fairy Tail?"

The question seemed to catch her off guard. She raised a thin red brow at him. She looked at him once more and stared into his eyes, "why do you ask?"

"My curiosity got the better of me."

"Well," she sat on the ground and looked up at him. The sun beams hit the side of her face showcasing her perfectly flawless skin. She moved some of her loose hair behind her ear, "it's a rather long story. However if you wish to hear it then I'll tell you."

He sat next to her, not saying a word. Instead, he simply pulled out a cigarette from the pack he gathered off the man he just killed and pulled out the zippo. Erza watched as he lit the stick in his mouth and blew the smoke into the air above his head. When he looked at her again she started her story.

"When I was a child I was always very sick and was always in the hospital. Well, I was there one day and I was visited by a man who claimed to be the Grim Reaper. He is the man we now worship, Zeref. He told me that if I wished to get better that I must perform a sacrifice to him and that he would then give me back my health." her voice began to trail off with the wind and she lowered her eyes to the ground as she turned her head away from him. He stared at her as he removed his cigarette from his mouth. "So I killed him," Erza spoke softly.

"Who exactly did you kill?" Jellal asked with a confused tone of voice.

She looked at him. Her eyes seemed darker than normal. They no longer had the sparkle they had moments ago. A cloud covered the sun and the forest grew much darker. She began to speak again "...my father. I killed my father! He stopped coming to see me at the hospital. My mother refused to stop paying for my hospitalization and rarely left my side, except to go to work. He left my mother as a result saying, 'If you want to waste your time and money on this lost cause of a child then I'm leaving!' But my mother never left my side however. She stayed with me until the end."

"Until the end?" Jellal asked even more confused than before.

Sobbing slightly Erza began to speak again, "my mother died one day on her way to come visit me after work. She was cut off by an 18-wheeler and her car was crushed completely. The police came to my hospital room to inform me of the accident and said that my father was contacted, but refused any responsibility for me. The officers told me that in the next day or so I would be transferred to a hospital bed at a foster home. They said I would likely live the rest of my short life in that home. After the officers left my room I broke down crying. It wasn't too long afterwards that Zeref came into my room. He walked to my bed and placed his hand on my head. He spoke softly and said, 'Child you have been through much pain. I am the Grim Reaper. I have come to visit you in your time of the most need. I am here to make you a deal. I will heal you so that you may live on your life a healthy woman. I will give you a home and you will serve me forever, but I require a sacrifice be made as an initial payment.' After all that I had experienced I quickly answered him, saying I would do anything and would serve him unconditionally. He smiled lightly, 'Good my child. Drink this and we shall begin.' I quickly took what he handed me and drank it down. I felt woozy and next thing I knew I was out. When I awoke I was outside of a house. I sat up and looked around and Zeref was standing beside me. He looked at me and spoke, 'It is time child, time for you to make your sacrifice.' He handed me this dagger that a carry to this day." Erza held up one of her daggers to Jellal and gripped the handle tightly.

"I took the dagger from him and he spoke again, 'You are to kill your father, my child. This is the payment I require for having healed you and taken you into my care.' This was when I had realized that I could move freely. The pain that I had experienced for so long in the hospital was gone. I was in awe, unable to comprehend this new feeling. I had been in the hospital for so long. How did he possibly heal me? Zeref raised his voice, "Quickly now my child, enter this house and kill the man you find inside. This is the payment that I require. Your life for his.' Without hesitation I walked forward towards the house. I knew what I had to do, but I wasn't ready for what I would find behind that door. When I opened the door I saw my father passed out on the couch, a beer in his hand. I was taken back by this sight. I was overwhelmed with emotions at the sight of him. These emotions led me to become filled with anger, rage, hatred, and the memories of him leaving my mother. I walked silently to the couch, the dagger clutched tightly in my hand, and I jumped on him forcing him to awake from his sleep. He tried to scream, but I pushed him down and held him there and covering his mouth with my newfound strength. In response he hit my face with the beer bottle he clutched in his hand." Erza grinned a bit.

"This didn't phase me much however, I had him held down and he was going nowhere. I savored the fear that came from his eyes. I licked my lips and whispered, 'This is for leaving my mother and me!' and I slit his throat with ease. His blood spilled everywhere and he coughed and choked as his body and his soul separated. 'I'll see you in hell', I spoke as I lifted my hand from his mouth. With that I walked back outside into the darkness and approached Zeref covered in blood. He took a rag from his pocket and wiped me down and then he pat my head. 'You've done well my child. You will serve me well.' and with that he took me to the abandoned church that you know as the home of Fairy Tail and I have lived my days out there until Zeref left."

"Where did he go?" Jellal asked, confusion in his voice.

"I don't know the answer to that," Erza spoke with much sadness. "Zeref left one day and left behind only a single piece of paper, a note to me. I keep it on me at all times, but I'm the only one who has ever read it." She paused for a moment. "Would you like to read it Jellal? I feel a connection with you that I've felt with nobody in a long time. I've never told anyone this story before and nobody has ever laid eyes on the letter other than me and Zeref. But I feel as if I can trust you, otherwise I wouldn't have told you this story." Erza reached into one of her pockets and removed the letter and held it out towards Jellal, "please read it."

He grabbed the note from her hands. Slowly, he opened it and observed the well written script as his eyes scanned over the words, "You are life and I am death. This is not a goodbye. If it were goodbye it would be forever, but one day you will see me again. Until then I will simply leave you with this: I'll see you soon my child." He read the words softly to himself. He looked over at Erza who had a sad smile on her pink lips as he folded the note back up and handed it to her. He didn't really know what else there was for him to say after that.

"I hope that answered your question."

She placed the note back into the pocket she got it out from and stood holding out a hand for Jellal to take. He grabbed hold of her hand and she pulled him up to his feet. He took one last puff from his smoke before he flicked it onto the ground and stepped on it, mixing it in with the wet ground. The cloud that covered the sun began to slowly move away as the sun's beam illuminated everything around the two of them very slowly.

"Anyway let's head back to the church now. You accomplished what we came out here for."

She walked past him as she looked up at the sky. The wind blew her ponytail back and forth. Jellal simply sighed as he followed after her placing his hands on top of his head. The wind made some of the fallen leaves at their feet dance around on the ground, while others were stepped on and crushed by their boots. Suddenly Jellal stopped and looked behind him. The sky had grown dark, "Erza." He spoke to get her attention. She stopped and looked over her shoulder at him.

"Hmm?"

He pointed to the sky, "something doesn't feel right to me."

The redhead sniffed the air around her and glanced around taking in everything that needed to be taken in. Then she spoke again, "we need to get out of here."

"What? Why?"

"Don't question me Jellal! Just do what I tell you. Now run!"

As the two started to run the darkness from behind them was slowly creeping in and a fog began surrounding their feet.

"Erza my dear," said a husky voice from the distance before them. "It's been a while, no?"

The two Fairy Tail members stopped dead in their tracks and looked forward. A figure was emerging from the fog that was forming in front of them. As Jellal stood there confused Erza simply braced herself with her ebony dagger in hand and a serious look on her face. With the look that she was ready to kill in her eyes she spoke, "Simon." Her voice was harsh as she spoke the name of the man that stood before them.

"Have you missed me my dear girl? Because I've missed you deeply," the man said menacingly.

"Why're you here?" Erza yelled

Simon drew closer to the two of them. Jellal readied a hand at his hip incase he needed to grab the other dagger to protect himself.

"Me?" He chuckled softly to himself as he stared into Erza's eyes and licked his lips, "I came to see you again."

Erza stared at the brown haired man before her. Staring into his empty black eye she shivered. She said nothing as he began to walk circles around her and Jellal. He paced back and forth a few times and looked Jellal over before he shot his eyes back over to Erza, "new meat?"

"New meat?" Jellal spat. He grabbed the dagger that he had on his right hip and lunged at the man before him, only to fall to the ground and the dagger falling from hands before him.

"You're too slow new meat," Simon looked down at Jellal as he stood up only to be kneed in the ribcage by the man towering over him. He fell back to the ground, an arm clutching his side. "Rule one, always catch your enemies by surprise. If they see you coming they can defend themselves." He placed one of his heavy boots on Jellal's back to keep him on the ground. "Rule two, restrain the weak and keep them in their place." Simon spat on Jellal then shot his empty eye in Erza's direction, "my sweet, sweet Erza. I've missed you so very much."

Erza shivered out of pure fear. This man scared her half to death and she didn't enjoy that feeling at all. She held her dagger close to her as the brown haired man drew closer and closer. She kept her eyes half focused on her fallen brother and the rest of her vision was on the brown haired demon before her.

"Now now Erza, there's no need to look at me that way," Simon hissed as he placed a hand on her chin to make her look up at him. She squirmed at his touch and struggled to be let free. "Still as feisty as ever I see."

"What brings you back here?" She spit in his face as she got her chin free from his hand. She stared at him with a sinister glare.

"What kind of question is that? I came here for you my dear."

"Why? I'm nothing to you anymore! Don't you understand that? We broke up years ago. We're done. Nothing! Get that through that thick head of yours Simon!"

"Don't say that to me! You and I can make this work, I know it. Just give me another chance." He yelled harshly at her as he slapped her across the face in a fit of rage.

Jellal stood, his blood boiling and his body filling with rage. He wiped the blood trail that ran from the corner of his mouth. He moved his hand swiftly along the ground as he tried to find his dagger keeping his eyes locked on the brown haired demon that stood before him. His body felt weak and destroyed thanks to his blow in the ribs earlier. As one hand gripped his side and the other gripped his dagger, he stood slowly and tried to keep himself balanced, moving swiftly behind the man that was before him.

Erza stared bitterly at Simon as she noticed Jellal sneaking up from behind with his dagger in hand. She needed to keep Simon busy, keep him talking, keep him distracted. That way Jellal could make his move and hopefully take him down so the two Fairy Tail members could make it to the church.

"Now my dear, I'll need you to stay still for me," he spoke to her as he grabbed the sword from his back. "You think you can sneak up on me?!" Simon turned swiftly and managed to slice part of Jellal's arm. Jellal dropped his dagger and clutched at the fresh wound. As the blue haired man was distracted by the cut, Simon took a chance and punched him in the face, knocking him onto the ground; Jellal landed on his back and his head hit the ground hard. His vision went fuzzy and his head was swimming. Everything went pitch black as darkness fell upon him. He was out.

"You bastard!" Screamed Erza in a voice that he had never heard come from her before. This voice was nothing like how she normally talked. There was so much emotion, so much anger. Erza lunged forward from the tree and managed to force Simon to the ground. The force of the fall caused his sword to fly out of his hands and land on the ground far from his reach. Erza bore down on Simon, her eyes were fiery with anger, "how dare you harm him like that! We were through a long time ago and we'll never be getting back together!" Erza screamed at the top of her lungs and punched Simon right in the nose as hard as she possibly could, the shock of the punch knocked him out. Panting as she regained consciousness from her fury, Erza stood slowly and then kicked Simon in the ribs. When she saw that he was down, she quickly wrapped one of Jellal's arms around her shoulders and dragged him off to leave the woods as quickly as possible. Erza was simply in too much awe as to what just happened. She felt scared, and pain all at the same time and she couldn't think straight. As of right now, all she wanted to do was get her fallen brother back to the church and make sure that he was alright.

* * *

Some time passed in the forest where Simon was left lying on the ground. Simon's body shot up as he regained consciousness. "Oh my sweet Erza. I won't let that foolish man replace me. You and I will be together once again." Simon stood slowly and licked up the blood at the corner of his mouth that trickling down from his nose. He stared towards the path he knew Erza had followed, "another day perhaps, but I will make you mine." With that Simon slithered away from the scene and towards a dark fog which encapsulated him as he disappeared.

* * *

Erza returned to the church and she walked directly to his room. She ignored all the questions that were being asked about what had happened. Erza laid him down on his bed and began tending to the wound. Simon had given him a nice, clean cut on his arm, and upon closer examination she realized that it was much worse than she had anticipated. She cleaned it up, and wrapped it slightly as she left the room to find a sterile needle and some thread. With delicate hands, she stitched up his cut and bandaged his arm tightly, and then spoke, "I'm sorry Jellal, this is all my fault. I hope your wound heals soon. I'm going to leave you here for now, please forgive me." Erza headed towards the door. She wasn't sure if he could hear her words or not, but she wanted to say them. She just felt so bad about what happened. She could have prevented it from happening. It shouldn't of even happened in the first place. Her red bangs fell in front of her chocolate orbs and tears slowly began to roll down her cheeks. "I promise that for your sake I'll make myself stronger to protect you, to protect my other brothers and sisters of Fairy Tail. I won't rest until I know that you are fully healed. I won't let anything like this happen to you or anyone else ever again. Trust me." She grabbed one of his hands in her own. "I'll do anything to protect you, even if it means giving my life for yours." The grip she had on his hand tightened as she pulled his hand up to her forehead. Erza allowed a deep breath to escape her lips before she placed a soft kiss on his hand, "I wish you a fast and speedy recovery my brother. While I wait for you to become well again I will train with the others. I will make us stronger, faster, all around better in our skills." A few more tears rolled down her cheeks and she sat there in silence, just looking over him. She watched his breathing, it was barely there, but he was still alive. She would never forgive Simon for what he did to him.

* * *

**So I understand that I made Simon become a crazy man but it's all part of the story, much like how Ultear died. And Tate Brody, the man Jellal killed, is just some made up character I thought of who could be Ultear's ex. I told you guys from the start that this story was going to be rather dark and eerie. How am I doing in that factor anyway? Am I succeeding? Like I said, this story will be updated at random because this is an original story I am writing that I am turning into a fanfiction so the chapters will be updated once I finish the chapter of the story and then edit all of the original names that I'm using. Your feedback and your input is important to me so leave your reviews and I'll see you all again soon.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I apologize about the wait, I really really do. However you really can't rush these sorts of things. Please let me know if I forgot to change a name or any other little detail since this is my own original story and I'm simply turning it into a fanfic to share with you all. Anyway, I thank everyone who has left a review thus far, as well as put this story in their favorites as well as followed (I also thank those of you who will do that in the future).**

**Neko-chan2604 : Well yes, Simon is a nice guy in the anime but I couldn't really think of anyone else to really pair up with Erza so he was my best choice. I'm trying to make it so that he's one of those character that you'll either love to hate or hate to love. Either way, he plays a pretty important role.**

**TsundereFairy : You're welcome! I hope you enjoy this update! Sorry it took so long but I hope it was worth it.**

**GunnerPuppy : Thank you! This is one of those stories that I've wanted to write for a while but I had to figure out how I wanted to do it so it actually gave off the vibe I wanted it to. I hope this story is turning out okay for you (:**

* * *

_October 31, Wednesday_

The sun had long since completed its tour for the day and was now replaced by myriad stars, which dotted the inky canopy. A low, waning gibbous moon hovered tenuously in the twilight firmament bestowing a very dim light upon the land. It was a cool, windy night. The swaying of trees and rustling of leaves could be heard, but not seen as the encompassing darkness had blotted out all but the faintest light. Briefly, a dark, wispy cloud eclipsed the crescent moon. For a few shadowy moments it looked like there was a halo around the cloud, a dull aura of lunar luminescence.

Orion's Belt could be seen to the north. It had taken its place for the night amongst a thousand other celestial constellations known and unknown, real and imagined. It, too, succumbed to the veil of cloud cover. Patiently, it waited for the clouds to pass, waited for the moment it would shine bright once more. Erza sat by the creek behind the church looking up at the dark sky. She should be training with the others, but she wasn't. She simply kept thinking about Jellal and when he was going to wake up from his unconscious state. It had been a week since the two had their little outing with Simon and he was still out cold, although he seemed to be doing better; his breathing had become more normal. The crisp air hit Erza's face and blew her long scarlet bangs and hair in the same direction that the wind was going. Looking up at the sky, she saw the large moon right in front of her hiding partially hiding behind some clouds and the tree branches before her.

She smiled, "it's Halloween." She mumbled softly to herself. "It's Fairy Tail's birthday." Erza let the autumn breeze blow against her face once more before she stood and got off the rock she was sitting on. She needed to head back to check on her family, and her fallen brother. It had been more than a week and he seemed to be getting progressively better as the days passed them by, but his condition still did worry her greatly. Brushing some of her long scarlet coloured hair behind one of her ears she began walking back to the church. She took her time, moving slowly to take in the beautiful moon and sights around her. The wind blew once again, making a soft whistling noise which made Erza smile. As she walked, the leaves under her boots made crunching noises while others danced around her legs as if they were pulling her forward. A soft giggle escaped her lips along with bright smile, a smile that she hasn't had upon her face in years. The back of the church came into her line of sight, as did the training ground. She saw her brothers and sisters training hard but they stopped when they saw her approach.

"Sister," a man who towered over the petite redhead by an easy foot spoke to her with his deep voice, "where did you run off to?"

Everyone seemed to be more protective over her now ever since her run in with Simon just a week prior. "I needed some air Elfman." The redhead responded as she looked up at him, with her usual solemn expression.

"Are you hurt?"

"No Elfman, I'm quite alright. There's no need to worry about me."

The taller man nodded as he sat down on the old bench to his right. He wiped his brow with a small towel to get rid of the sweat that was running down his forehead.

"I do however have a question," the redhead spoke with her usual tone. It drew everyone's eyes to her. "Have any of you checked on Jellal? Or yet, do any of you know how he is?"

"He is doing quite well," a soft voice spoke from behind. The redheaded leader looked over her shoulder to see Lucy approaching. "You'll be happy to know that his breathing has returned to normal. I was just tending to his bandages. I was about to take him something to eat in case he were to awaken when I noticed you were back."

"Allow me." Erza spoke. She was pleased to know that he was doing better. She braced herself for all the questions he would most likely ask if he finally woke up today. She hoped that he would. Lucy nodded and stepped aside slightly as Erza walked past her in a swift motion. Fairy Tail members followed their leader's motions with their eyes before they went back to training.

Erza prepared a tray filled with food for him. It had been a week since he had eaten anything so he was most likely going to be hungry. She placed a plate of leftover ribs, some bread, a variety of vegetables, an apple and of course a nice glass of wine, the liquid resembling the colour of blood. She was happy to go see him, it just became routined: visit Jellal in the morning to check in on him, talk to him for a bit while tending to his wounds, leave him for a while and then come back at the end of the day before she either went to bed or left to go out to fulfill a contract. She quietly opened his bedroom door and she saw him stir in bed. She smiled.

"Good morning," she spoke to him like usual. She placed his tray of food down on the end table and sat down at the end of his bed.

He grumbled some kind of incoherent nonsense in his sleep as he moved from his belly to his side. She watch him with careful eyes, observing his sleep habits. For instance, she noticed that he spoke a lot in his sleep about all sorts of things, whether they be little sentences, a few words, or a bunch of nonsense. Two, he moved around a lot. Three, he snored sometimes. Four, his nose would sometimes twitch and he would crinkle his forehead. Five, he always twitched his fingers a lot. Six, he sometimes enjoyed swatting something away from him, as if he were trying to rid himself of an annoying bug that wouldn't go away, or someone attempting to wake him.

It was those random little things that she picked up on. Sometimes she would just sit at the edge of his bed and watch him for a while. But as she watched him she grew more excited to know that he could quite possibly open his eyes again today. She watched him very carefully, not wanting to miss anything.

He grumbled and turned once again. One of his hands went up to his face as began rubbing his right eye. Her face brightened up. She watched as he sat up and opened his eyes slowly with a yawn. Although his vision was fuzzy, he could manage to see that someone was sitting before him; he jumped.

"Good morning." She smiled as she placed a hand on his knee.

"Holy shit Erza, you scared me," he responded groggily. Ah his voice. She missed it so much. So low and gentle but at the same time it hypnotized her. His voice always sent chills down her spine.

"Sorry, sorry." She apologized frantically, not meaning to scare him. A faint pink blush appeared on her cheeks as she turned her chocolate orbs away from him.

"How long have you been sitting there?" He asked her as he rubbed the nape of his neck. He sat up, exposing his bare chest from under the blanket on his bed.

"Not very long," her voice was quiet, almost a whispered tone. "I brought you something to eat though. I figured you would be hungry considering you haven't eaten in a week."

"A week?" She pointed to the tray on the table beside his bed and his eyes followed. He began drooling when his eyes grew large from the sight of the meal that was awaiting him. He grabbed one of the ribs off the tray and began eating, "what exactly happened to me that I was out for that long?"

"We had a small run in with a man named Simon after I had you prove your loyalty to Fairy Tail."

Jellal looked at her confused, "what?"

She let out an agonizing sigh, "we had an incident with the leader of another cult. He took you down without even trying." She looked away from him.

Jellal stared at her with his jade eyes as he ate his food, not saying a single word. Erza continued.

"That cut on your arm was courtesy of him. As well as all of the other injuries you had to endure from the encounter."

His memories came back and his curiosity had once again come over him. "Tell me Erza, who was that man? Why did he say something about getting back together with you? Why did he attack us?" There was a pause and Erza remained motionless and said nothing. "Answer me damn it!" Jellal practically screamed at her. Erza turned around slowly, tears flowing down her face. Jellal was taken back, did I make her cry? He thought to himself.

"I'm sorry Jellal. I knew that you would probably have plenty of questions about what happened but I was just trying to keep myself preoccupied. I'm upset with myself for allowing you to get hurt." More tears flowed down Erza's face as she sobbed lightly.

"It's okay Erza." Jellal spoke softly. He moved towards her a bit in bed and he wrapped his unharmed arm tightly around her slender waist, "please just tell me what happened."

Erza spoke softly, "Okay." She took a deep breath and started to weave the tale of her history with Simon. "It all started shortly after Zeref left me. I was sixteen then and was an adept fighter thanks to the knowledge Zeref had invested in me through countless hours of training. I had to fend for myself with him having left so I took to the streets as a thief. I was very good at it, but that was to be expected. At first I was doing it simply to get by, but then I took on the habit as a career of sorts. I began accepting contracts to steal for people and with that I started Fairy Tail. I started this group in the name of Zeref and began to populate it with those who I felt were worthy. One night I was doing a contract for a high price, stealing a ring from a recently divorced woman. She had won the ring in the divorce, but her husband wanted it back. I had broken into the house and escaped with the ring in hand, but when I reached the street a man came out from the shadows and spoke my name. That man was Simon and he had come seeking me. 'You have something that doesn't belong to you, don't you?' He said to me as he walked towards me. I removed my dagger from its holster and got low to the ground and replied, 'Maybe I do, maybe I don't, who are you to ask?' Simon disappeared and next thing I knew he was behind me, his arms around me, he had restrained me with such ease. He pulled the ring from my pocket and held it up into the moonlight. 'You did well. Tell me though, why do you steal?' The question puzzled me, I knew the answer, but never really thought much about it. 'I steal for Zeref.' I spoke honourably. 'Really now? I've never heard of this Zeref, are they a member of Fairy Tail as well? I thought you were the leader.' He asked these questions with such arrogance, but at the same time I was honoured to know that he knew of me and Fairy Tail. 'Zeref saved my life, he raised me, and trained me to be who I am today. I started Fairy Tail in his honour and we serve his memory until the day that he returns.' Simon let go of me and chucked, 'Go on a date with me sometime!' he said and tossed the ring back to me That question just came from out of the blue and it startled me considering the fact I had just met him. 'I'll pick you up at the church you have as your headquarters tomorrow night. 7:30.' And with that he walked away and disappeared into the night shadows, not even giving me a chance to answer him. I'd never been on a date before and didn't even know what to expect, especially from a man I had just met after finishing my contract. I went back to the church and the next night went outside the at 7:30 to wait for him. As I walked outside, Simon was just walking up, dressed up in a black tuxedo, a white undershirt, and a blood red tie running down his front. 'Hey there!' He said waving to me as he began to turn his walk into a swift run." She paused and looked over at Jellal before letting out a sigh, "that night was wonderful; we spent it out on the town doing various fun things. That was the start of our relationship. We dated for about five months and I was growing rather fond of Simon. I never let my duties with Fairy Tail fall behind, however. I would always make sure that everyone in the group was doing their duties, I fulfilled my own contracts, and each night I would pray to Zeref, telling him of my days journeys and my blossoming relationship with Simon. However, one night Simon took me out to a restaurant. The night started off well, but towards the end of dinner things took a turn for the worse. We were both sharing a bottle of wine when Simon said something unforgivable to me. 'Why don't you leave that silly group of yours behind, forget about this Zeraffi or whatever his name is, and spend your days with me?' That infuriated me to no end so I tossed my glass of wine in his face and screamed, 'You bastard! How dare you disgrace his name like that!' I stood up from the table and began to walk away, 'Never speak to me again! You're trash and I don't want to see you ever again!' With that Simon took up the liberty of starting his own cult, but instead they all were to worship him as if he were some amazing God and he vowed he would put an end to Fairy Tail and take me back no matter what it takes. To this day we fight his group and he still thinks he can get me back, but I'll never respect him again. He's lucky I still let him live."

"Why don't you take him out then?" Jellal asked, contemplating the story he just heard.

"Jellal don't be foolish. Simon is far too strong for me or anyone else in Fairy Tail to take down, as sad as it makes me to say that, it's the truth."

"What about me?" Jellal questioned, his voice, although soft, was filled with fury, "I can take that bastard on."

Erza laughed and cried, both at the same time, she wrapped her arms tightly around Jellal's neck, hugging him close. "Do you really think you can take on Simon? After all don't you see the condition you're in after facing him? I mean really, you were out cold for a week."

Jellal whispered into Erza's ear, "I'll do whatever it takes. I will make him pay for dishonouring Zeref's name and disgracing you."

Erza was shocked at what was just said. Jellal pushed her back so he could look her in the eyes. "For you, Erza, I will help Fairy Tail put an end to that sick son of a bitch and his disgrace of a cult. For you I will do whatever it takes. I'll do anything for you."

Erza shed a single tear. She was touched by his words. She looked into his olive eyes that had a certain tint in them, "it'll be difficult to do but if you put your body, mind, heart, and soul into training with the others then I knew deep inside that you can defeat him. You have a purpose, a reason for wanting to take him down, a spark that fuels your fire and that's the greatest thing a person can possibly have."

She stared into his emerald eyes and he wiped away the tear that rolled down her pale skin. The candle in his room slightly illuminated the left side of his face as he leaned in closer to her, his lips inches away from her own. As his fingers tickled her cheek she pulled away from him and grabbed his hand in her own, pulling it down to her lap. Green eyes stared into brown eyes that weren't just piercing into his body, they were piercing into his soul.

"What I want right now is for you to recover. I want to know that you are well and you have your strength back once more. I want you to do training exercises with the others later tonight if you're feeling up to it, and once I know you're healed, I wish to have you do a contract with me so you know what we as a group do. That's all I wish right now. Defeating Simon will take a lot of determination and endurance and I don't want you to push yourself right now. It'll be a process for you, much like how it is for all of us. Do you understand me Jellal?"

He nodded slightly, "I understand completely." His voice seemed to slither out of his mouth, being filled with much more malice than Erza had ever heard before. It scared her slightly.

"Well then, I shall go and inform the others that you are awake and well, I'm sure they'll all be quite happy to know of this news."

She stood and exited his room with a soft smile spread across her pale lips as she quietly shut the door, leaving Jellal alone to ponder his thoughts. He rubbed his left eye with his left palm and yawned as he looked over at the rest of the food that Erza had brought for him. Jellal had been out for some time and after that conversation he heard his stomach growl angrily at him. He began scarfing down the food that Erza had left for him with one thought on his mind; becoming stronger. He knew he had to become stronger for Erza. As he finished off the last bit of food on his plate he wiggled out of bed and went to stand up, only to fall right back down on the bed. Surprised he thought about it for a moment and realized this was natural, he hadn't walked in sometime. He decided to take it slow, stretching his legs out and lifting them up and back down, this was very taxing for him.

After a few minutes of stretching and preparing himself he took a deep breath and made another attempt to stand. This time succeeding, but with a wobbly results. He placed his hand on the nightstand to catch his balance when he noticed a small black book on the table. His curiosity was as strong as always so Jellal took the book up into his hands and examined it closer. The outside of the book was completely blank, no title or any markings at all, just a pure black binding that held in some pages. Jellal opened the book to the first page and started to read:

_12:34 pm - October 23_

_I can't believe this happened to us. We were ambushed by Simon when I was showing Jellal into our group. He did well in the initiation, but he didn't stand a chance against Simon, he's just too strong. Jellal lays before me now, unconscious, wounded from the encounter. What have I done? One of the members of Fairy Tail was wounded because of me! This is all my fault. I've patched Jellal up, but will he be able to forgive me? Will my brothers and sisters forgive me for allowing our newcomer come to harm? Will they look down on me as their leader? It's been a long time since Simon has shown himself, I'd almost forgotten about him entirely, but after tonight I can't ignore him any longer. He and his group must be taken down. I will rally my brothers and sisters together so that we may begin training to put an end to him once and for all. This is swear, for Jellal, and for all my brothers and sisters. I will protect them._

The book went on, marking each day. It was clearly a diary that Erza must have started just after Jellal had been injured. At the end of each entry was the saying:

_This I swear, for Jellal, and for all my brothers and sisters. I will protect them._

Under the saying was a small droplet of blood. Jellal read through the rest of the journal and was amazed. Each day Erza had written in this journal. It seemed once in the morning and once at night. Each day she contemplated what had happened, each day she recapped Jellal's recovery, and each day she made the oath to become stronger, to put an end to Simon, and protect her brothers and sisters.

Jellal finished the journal and set it back down on the nightstand where he had found it. A small tear fell from Jellal's eyes and landed on his thigh. He stared at the droplet that had marked his pants and was amazed. Was he crying? He hadn't cried since he was a child. Could it be that he was growing attached to Erza, to Fairy Tail? Jellal clenched his fist tight and grabbed the journal back off the nightstand. He turned to the first page and grabbed the fork he had been given to eat with. He took the tip of the utensil and dug it into the end of his finger, drawing blood.

"I, Jellal Fernandes, will become stronger. I will protect Erza and my brothers and sisters of Fairy Tail. I will take down Simon and his group. This I swear, for Erza, and all my brothers and sisters. I will protect them." Jellal spoke softly and dripped a drop of blood on the page, just next to Erza's.

"I swear." He mumbled, closing the book and setting it down once again. Jellal stood up from the bed and stripped down. He noticed his bandages and paid little mind to them. He found his Fairy Tail armor; clean and hanging up in his closet, ready for him to put it on once more. Jellal quickly got ready, but he stopped before leaving the room. Looking into the mirror on the wall, Jellal noticed a certain aura in his eyes; something he had never seen before. Could this be his burning passion to become stronger? Jellal looked himself in the eyes and took a deep breath, then opened the door and stepped out of the room.

He inhaled a large breath before he made his way from his living quarters. He saw several members of Fairy Tail as he walked past their rooms. They shared idle conversation as he slowly made his way past them. He answered all the questions they had to ask: Do you feel better? Do you need anything? He would nod and say yes, or simply nod and smile at them. Right now he wanted to find Erza, to speak with her about the whole Simon ordeal. As he made his way into the main chamber he saw the woman he was looking for, the redhead herself.

"Erza!" He called out to her as he picked up the pace a bit in order to keep up with her swift movements. "Erza!" He called out once more when she didn't turn around to acknowledge him.

As she continued with her fast movements, he turned his walk into a swift jog in order to keep her in his line of sight. He wanted to talk with her. There were a lot of things running around in his mind and the only thing he was focused on was making sure those things happened.

* * *

He had followed her to Fairy Tail's training grounds in the woods behind the church. He remembering her mentioning that she wanted him to do training exercises with the others later in the day when he was feeling up to it but he figured now was as best a time as any. He could see her practicing on a hay dummy as he drew closer. He was silent as he approached her, watching her every movement. He watched her punch, kick, and slash the dummy with her prized ebony dagger.

"What're you doing out here?" She wasn't even looking his way and she could tell he was there.

"How'd you know it was me?" He asked, puzzled. He was sure that he didn't make a single noise when he approached.

"Lucky guess," she smirked, but he couldn't see the expression on her face. She looked over her left shoulder at him and smiled, "what're you doing out here?" She asked her question again.

"I wanted to take you up on that training offer you mentioned to me before you left my room."

She turned to face him completely, "I usually train alone."

"Just this once?"

She rolled her eyes before taking several long strides before she was standing before him, looking him square in his jade eyes, "fine. Just _once_." She made sure she emphasized the word once. To him, he didn't understand why she didn't want him to be there but everyone had their own way of doing things. As he stared into her chocolate eyes he could see that there was a fire piercing her pupils. She was filled with rage and hatred for something and it was clear to him that she wanted to release those emotions.

"We're going to practice doing jabs, a hundred. If you hit me, congratulations. I'll make sure I go easy on you."

"We're practicing on each other?" He was so confused. Actually, he was more confused as to why the redhead was acting this way. It was weird to him. She was usually so kind and caring but she just seemed so different now. Maybe this was the real her, the true her. As she turned her back on him, it was then that he could feel his own rage form in his belly. He smirked as he turned his back on her and began following in her steps.

"Take five steps forward then could to ten in your head. Always stay on your toes, for you never know when your opponent will str-" she had turned around and lunged at him. He was quick on his toes, just like she had said. He pulled the daggers from his holsters and blocked her attack before he had managed to land a swift blow to her chest, knocking her back.

She sat on the ground, looking at him in disbelief, "you're better than I thought you would be in your current state." It seemed as if she had returned to her normal self, the Erza that Jellal knew.

"I think I got lucky there," he responded as he held out a hand to help her up. Wrong move. She pulled him down, rolled the two of them over, and before he knew it, she was straddling him, holding her ebony dagger up to his throat.

"You shouldn't be so nonchalant about things like this. Never help up your opponent when they're down, even if your opponent is someone from Fairy Tail."

She got off of him, not wanting to cause him anymore pain throughout his body thanks to what Simon had done to him, "we're trained to kill, never forget that." She spoke as she turned her back on him. He slowly made his way back to his feet and steadied himself, making sure he wouldn't fall over before he followed after her.

"I don't mean to be this rough with you," she spoke to his as she began fixing the dummy she was hitting earlier.

"What?" He raised a blue brow at her.

"I train like this with the others, so I shouldn't treat you any different, even if you are injured. That's fair, don't you think so?"

He nodded, "yes."

The two were silent for a moment before she turned to face him, "Jellal, allow me to ask you something. Would you give your life in order to protect those that you love the most?"

Her question had caught him off guard. All he could do was stand there and stare at her, trying to comprehend the question that she had just asked him. He could only manage to open and close his mouth like a fish since he couldn't seem to find the right words that he wanted to say in order to answer her question… better yet, he didn't even know how he should even answer her question in the first place.


	4. Chapter 4

_October 31, Wednesday_

_Would you give your life in order to protect those that you love the most?_

Her question echoed in his head as he stood there, opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water. Jellal was at a complete loss for words. He always knew that he would do anything to keep those around him safe but it had never even crossed his mind to give his life in order to protect another person.

"Well?" She stared at him with her large brown orbs and her crossed arms. It was clear that she had grown impatient while she waited for him to answer.

Death was a difficult subject for him and that wasn't because he had just recently lost Ultear, but the whole topic of death just seemed to bother him deeply; it was a touchy subject, much like how it would be for any given person. It was then that he remembered how he felt when those two officers confronted him in the pub where he was drinking away his sorrows to inform him about how his beautiful Ultear was taken away from him by her sudden death. When he heard those words come from the one officer's mouth, he had felt like death had just come knocking on his door. But, ah yes, death did in fact come for him. Death came to give him salvation, to allow him to redeem himself, and death greeted him in the form of a brown eyed temptress and she greeted him with open arms. Erza was death, but she came not to kill him, but to instead save him.

"Jellal." She snapped her fingers in front of his face a few times. Her irritated expression was still visible all over her delicate face.

The blue haired young man had then come back to reality upon hearing her voice and the noise that she made using only her fingers. Her voice was music to his ears and it echoed in his head; it was so delicate, fragile and soothing. He blinked his celadon orbs a few times before the brown eye beauty was no longer a fuzzy figure standing before him. He stared at her. Her arms were folded under her breasts, making them appear to be much larger than they actually were. Jellal didn't want to stare. He didn't want to be rude. In a panic, he closed his eyes tightly and opened them once again.

"Do I need to repeat my question to you?" She adjusted all of her weight to one hip and stared deep into his eyes.

"I would give anything for you." Jellal gave her a small smirk with his response. He was unsure as to what had come over him but he didn't seem to be afraid of death any longer. Was it because he was staring death square in the eyes? "Even my life."

The red head seemed rather pleased with his answer. All she did was shoot a soft smile in his direction before she turned her back to him. He watched as her shoulders raised from the breath she took in, and watched as they lowered as she exhaled. "I've never really been afraid of death or dying really." She spoke bluntly and out of the blue. "Everyone was put on this earth to live a life and everyone of course eventually has to die to make room for another life to be given. Instead of being afraid of death, I simply wait for my day to come where I can meet death again. I know him far too well."

Jellal raised a blue brow. He knew exactly who Erza was speaking of. Sure, it seemed like an odd thing to be having a conversation about but he understood where she was coming from. From what he had gathered, Fairy Tail did Zeref's bidding and they brought death to those who had reached their time on this earth.

"Zeref is the angel of death Jellal. He greets all of those when they reach their time to leave with open arms… that's why he came to me all those years ago when I was nothing more than a sick child laying in a hospital bed. Only instead of him taking me with him to the other side he allowed me to continue living, to carry on and do his bidding. He knew that it wasn't my time to go yet. He could see that I still had more fight left in me."

Jellal wasn't exactly sure where her words were coming from but he slowly began to understand her question about death. Fairy Tail worshiped death and carried out his duties. It was only natural that they be willing to greet him themselves at any given moment.

"We should get back to training." Erza finally broke the silence that was between them.

"Actually," Jellal sat on the rock that was behind him, "I think I've reached my limit. My body still seems to be adjusting itself from it's week long slumber."

"I understand."

Erza placed her ebony dagger back in the holster at her hip and the red head closed her amber orbs tightly as she tilted her head up towards the moon. The crisp autumn wind made her long ruby hair twirl around her gentle face. A soft smile fell upon her pink lips as she exhaled a breath, slowly opening her eyes, only to stare at Jellal with those enticing and angelic eyes that just seemed to pull him in. "Let's head back inside. The night is still young so I'm going to take a contract. If you're feeling up to it then you're more than welcome to come along."

He nodded and followed her as she made her way back to the church. An icy chill ran down the young man's spine that made him shiver. He grunted as the two reached the back of Fairy Tail's beloved sanctum. Already he could hear the others' voices echo all around him as he and Erza made their way down a large, and what seemed to be never ending, hallway that was dimly lit with several candles. As he and the red head reached the old stone door at the end of the corridor Jellal watched with careful eyes as Erza simple knocked on the door before her just once and the door just seemed to open by what seemed to be magic. As the door opened up wider and wider, the others came into Jellal's view. Each one of them was doing some sort of odd or end to keep themselves busy and on their toes.

"Sister," each member of Fairy Tail greeted Erza warmly and with a smile, whereas she wore her usual stone cold expression that was rarely seen around the blue haired man. "Brother." Each and every person also greeted Jellal the same way their welcomed their leader. The only difference between the young man and the young lady was the way they greeted the others. He gave them all a small smile and a nod.

"Do we have any contracts?" Erza looked up at Elfman with cold and empty eyes. Her voice was icy and sharp much like the autumn winds that blew outside.

"Several." Elfman responded as he took a bite of the bread that was in his hand. The tall white haired man gestured for his two fellow members to follow him as he led them to a room, whose entrance way was covered by a large curtain that was the color of blood. The red head followed after the snowy haired man, motioning with her index finger for Jellal to follow. Although the red head couldn't see it, the blue haired man gave a small nod and swiftly followed after the two.

The room looked like the one he gave his blood oath in, but it was different. There was no pentagram painted on the ground in blood. Instead there were two black throw pillows placed in front of a rather large picture of who Jellal believed to be the angel of death himself.

"Sit Jellal." Erza instructed him as she looked up at Elfman. "I'm taking Jellal along with me so he can see how a contract is done."

"Very well then." Elfman nodded at the red head below him before he looked over at the ultramarine, "be safe brother."

Jellal kneeled down on one of the pillows on the floor before the painting and waited patiently for Erza to join him. He heard Elfman's footsteps disappear as he walked further and further down the hallway until he could no longer hear anything. The ultramarine looked over at the red head as she sat down on her knees on the pillow to his right. He watched as she pressed her palms together and and intertwined her fingers with one another. Jellal simply placed his hands firmly on his thighs. The red head closed her eyes and softly began to speak.

"O Zeref, dulcis Zeref. Venio ad te in me quod vis audire arcu. Quia nocte ego, alius contractus fiant." Erza's voice was hushed, barely loud enough for him to hear, but he did. All Jellal could do was stare at the red head with a confused look on his face and a raised brow. Her words confused him but he watched as a small smirk slowly crept its way onto her lovely face. As she opened her chestnut eyes, she merely glanced over towards the cobalt haired man to her left.

"What?" He was puzzled by, not only the words he just heard her speak, but by the expression that was present on her face. He wanted to ask more than the question he already asked but he bit his tongue and hoped that all of his other questions would be answered in time.

"Ready yourself Jellal." Erza stood and placed her cowl over her head and adjusted her mask over her mouth, looking exactly like she did when his eyes first saw her. "We have a contract to fulfill." The young man nodded and quickly made his way to his room with Erza right at his heels.

* * *

Erza and Jellal hid in the shadows as the two approached the estate in which their contract resided. Icy wind blew the freshly painted shutters against the ornate window frames. "How do we get in there?" Jellal looked over to the hooded female to his right. He watched as she surveyed the whole house; the windows, and of course the front door. He could tell that Erza didn't want to make their break in too obvious and that she was thinking of the perfect way to sneak inside this lavish home before them.

"Through that window up there." The red head pointed up to a window and then the tree that was right up against the corner of their contract's house, giving them easy access to the roof and the window that Erza was talking about. "We climb that tree, and we have easy access to that window."

She climbed the tree just like an agile cat. In fact, she made it look incredibly easy. The young woman grabbed hold of the lowest branch and pulled herself up with ease. Jellal watched as she continued to do that trick that looked oh so easy a few more times before she was standing on the roof. "Come on Jellal, your turn." She gestured for him to start climbing. He gave her a small nod and jumped up to grab hold of the first branch. Damn Erza made getting up the tree look easy. It took him a while, but he finally reached his partner in crime on the roof with a little bit of her help.

Jellal began to attempt to lift the window. It wouldn't budge, not even a tad. "How exactly are we getting in here?" He sounded defeated.

"No contract is ever an easy one. Especially not one where you need to take someone's life. Give me a moment." She walked up next to him and pulled a small rectangular case from one of her armour's many pockets. Inside the small container were lockpicks, and loads of them. He stared at her and watched as she jimmied with the lock for several moments before the two of them heard a clicking noise. The woman smiled, "we're in." She opened the window with caution and the two stealthily made their way inside to what appeared to be a large study. The red head scanned the room to find the door, and when she finally did, the two made their way down the hall with swift movements. When they walked down the steps, they made sure they were absolutely silent. The duo stuck to the shadows of the home to watch their contract's movements with careful eyes. The target sat himself down in a chair with a book in his hands. Erza slowly nudged Jellal forward, "you do it."

"Me?" He seemed shocked. He had never done a contract before and he simply thought he was only along to watch how they were done.

"I have confidence in you. It's not everyday I let a new recruit handle an assassination but I know you can do it, so go on."

Jellal only nodded and grabbed one of the daggers that he had at his side. His mint eyes watched the man, studying his every moment. With quiet feet he made his way forward, hiding amongst the blackest parts of the room until he was right behind the man's chair.

* * *

A single light that hung from the ceiling was dimmed, circling lazily. If it were to somehow spring back to life and show everyone its true brightness, then it would illuminate a scene of utter lavishness and wealth. The hardwood floor played host to nothing but an expensive leather chair and an upturned table. The chair had last supported the weight of a living person just moments ago, now it held only the cold and bloodied skin of a corpse - its face frozen in a peaceful and serene way, and its fingers were still holding onto a book that the person had been reading in their final agonizing moments of life. Nothing else. Two sets of unearthly eyes viewed this scene with satisfaction, the duo held pleased grins on their faces. Jellal seemed rather fond with the completion of his very first contract with Fairy Tail, whereas Erza held a solemn look upon her face as she scanned the scene but when Jellal's face came into her line of sight she did in fact grin ear to ear when she saw the pleased look on her accomplices face and she sat down on the couch just opposite the chair that the corpse sat in. She started to admire the young man's handy work. She was quite proud of him. A playthrough of what he had done repeated itself in her head.

Once Jellal knew that he wasn't going to get caught, he sprung from his position behind the chair and slit the unsuspecting man's throat. Jellal wanted the man to suffer for a bit and he watched as the man below him slowly died. His blood ran down his neck, dripping onto his hands, his clothing, the chair, and the book that was in his hands. A devious grin formed on his face and a malice laugh came from his lips.

Erza removed her mask and ran her thumb back and forth on her ebony dagger's blade, "tell me Councilman, what exactly did you do that would someone contact me to assassinate you?" Erza spoke to the lifeless body that sat before her, "you obviously pissed off one to many people, or just one person and they couldn't handle you any longer. Either or." She stood from her seat on the couch and placed her dagger back in its holster placed around her thigh. Her eyes begin to wander around the room, taking in all the antiques that lined the mantle. Slowly, her hazel eyes looked over at her partner in crime as she smiled deviously at him before she then allowed her eyes to make their way back to the corpse that was seated in the chair. Jellal simply looked at the scene from a distance as the young man himself held a bloodied dagger. He took in the elegant decor of the house that was around him, whereas he noticed that Erza was leaving a small something on the book in the man's hand.

"Come now Jellal, our task at hand here is completed."

The young man nodded and followed the female back upstairs to exit out of the man's estate through the same exact way that they had gotten in. With steady hands, she slowly opened the window with caution and the two made their way to the roof.

"What'd you leave in that man's book?" Jellal allowed his curiosity to once again get the best of him.

The female laughed a tad as she put her mask back on her face, "normally when Fairy Tail carries out an assassination such as thing we leave a small trinket so people know who killed the poor sap when they find the body. It's nothing fancy, usually it's just a slip of paper with a black fairy printed on it."

"Ah."

* * *

It was just now becoming daytime, an early hour of the day for her to be completing a job like this one, but she was going to treat it just like all of her other contracts only she had to carry on with more caution than usual. "It's dawn. We need to be cautious when getting back to the sanctuary." He simply nodded and followed her lead. He felt good with the completion of the contract and there was a fire in his belly that made him want to do more and more of them to please the angel of death. Streaks of sunlight greeted the morning dew to the accompaniment of an imaginary trumpet fanfare. Sibilant breezes caressed the morning grass that danced in appreciation for the morning celestial hues. The slumber of birds was replaced by music as their silent throats opened to welcome the morning. Streaks of orange, red, pink and yellow decorated the canvas of the sky. Trees stretched out their arms in a greeting of glory to welcome the sun. The leaves that laid on the ground awaken by the early morning winds that began to blow. Boots make rustling noises as they came down on the grass below them. Beams from the freshly awakening sun peaked through the tree branches just above the two as they took long strides to get home before it became easy for them to be seen.

"Erza? Erza is that you my dear?" Came a very familiar hiss from behind the two.

The red head cringed. A cold chill ran down her spine, "what do I owe the pleasure of you being here?" She asked him bitterly, not even greeting him face to face.

"I was on my way home from completing a contract of my own. Where exactly is it that you're heading home from?"

"Tsk." She scoffed and continued walking. Jellal rolled his eyes and gave a brief jog to catch up to the female ahead of him.

"You have an accomplice with you today? My, my, this is indeed a rare sight to be seen. Erza Scarlet needed help to complete a contract given to her by her beloved Zeraffi."

"It's Zeref," Jellal growled in response. The blue haired man turned on his heels and stared the brown haired demon square in his eye, "the man we worship is named Zeref. Get it right you sorry son of a bitch."

"Oh how exciting, you brought your new meat along with you! Tell me boy, how was your recovery?" Simon smiled maliciously.

"Come on Jellal, he isn't worth our time." Erza instructed with a sharp tone. She stopped in her tracks and balled her hands up into fists.

"Oh come now Erza, let us men talk why don't you? I really do want to get to know who this young man is. He seems to have taken your fancy and I do wish to know why. I wish to know why you can seemingly fall in love with him and not with me."

"Excuse me?" Erza gritted her teeth together. "He is my fellow brother and I'm simply showing him the ropes. There is no romantic connection between he nor I, and you best understand that Simon. The only reason it didn't work out between the two of us was because of you and your ridiculously selfish ways. You wanted me all to yourself and let me inform you of something, that's not how it works in my world Simon." With one fluid motion of her hand, her dagger was out of her hand and flying towards the brown haired man that stood before the two of them. Erza lowered her brows in an angered way and watched as the dagger grazed his arm.

He laughed, "you mis-"

Wrong. She didn't miss. She lunged at him and with a swift motion kneed him in the groin, taking him down. Taking advantage of the situation, she kicked him several times in the chest, causing him just as much pain as he had caused to Jellal just a week earlier. She watched as he began to cough up his own blood. She wanted him to suffer. All those years of holding in her hatred was now being taken out on the one person that she hated more than anything else in the whole word. She swung back around and gave him a fast and powerful roundhouse kick in the ribs, he howled in torment as more blood came pooling from the corner of his mouth and nose. Jellal could have stopped her, but he didn't. He wanted Simon to suffer for all the pain and suffering that he caused him for that long week where he did nothing but lay in bed in an unconscious state of mind. His somber eyes stared at the man who was laying on the ground in a puddle of his own ruby liquids. A smile of enmity formed on his face as he watched as Erza took all of her hatred and rage that was building up after so many years out on the man who had hurt her. Hurt him. Jellal wasn't sure if all of the rage Erza was taking out was her own, or if she had some hatred towards the white haired waste of space was for hurting her brother. He didn't know and he couldn't tell, but he let her be. He let her take out all of her irritation that she had kept bottled up throughout the years out on the one people all of her problems were directed at.

"Now I hope you suffer the way you've made myself and Jellal suffer." She spat on him and gave him one final kick as she walked towards where her dagger landed in the grass. All Jellal could focus on was the smile that she had plastered on her face.

"Jellal," she glanced over her shoulder, her amber eyes filled with fire, "let's get back to the sanctuary." Her voice matched the look on her face. The red head placed her ebony dagger back at her hip and continued on her way. Jellal gave Simon one good hard, swift kick in the ribs as he made his way past him to catch up to the dangerously attractive woman ahead of him. His emerald eyes watched her as she walked. He was proud of her for what she'd done just now but there was an aura surrounding that made a chill run down his spine. He somehow doubted that they were finished with Simon; things were never that simple.

"He'll be back." Erza spoke with a soft sigh as she looked down at her boots, "getting rid of him isn't as simple as we'd like to believe."

It was funny how she had a way of knowing what was on his mind. "Funny," he chuckled somewhat, "I was thinking the same exact thing."

The female looked over her shoulder and gave the blue haired male a soft grin. She said nothing but there was a certain twinkle in her eye that Jellal had only seen a few times and it made him shiver. He grinned and ran to be by her side.

* * *

When the two returned back to the safety of their sanctuary when the sun was nearly at it's highest point in the sky. The others who were still at the church shared smiles with the two that had just returned from their assassination contract. Erza said not a word to any one and quickly made her way into her private quarters away from all of the other rooms.

"Is she alright Jellal?" Nab, a rather tall and pudgy african american man, looked at the cobalt haired young man. His deep voice bounced off the stone walls that surrounded everyone.

"We, uh, we had a run in with Simon." He spoke honestly, but his eyes stayed locked on the hallway that Erza had walked down. He was worried about her and how she was handling the whole situation. "Nothing happened to either of us thanks to her."

"It's best we leave her alone then. Usually when Simon is involved with any situation she tends to enjoy the solitude of being in her own room."

The sapphire haired man only gave a slight nod before making his way over to the large velvet couch. He let out a long breath and tilted his head up to the ceiling, his eyes closed. He heard the footsteps of the others spread out, sounding as if they were all heading into their own rooms, leaving him alone with his thoughts. He had just killed a man but his mind wasn't concerned about that, he was more concerned about the well being of the red head woman and how the meetup with Simon had affected her well being as a person.

"I'm fine incase you were wondering," a rather familiar voice spoke from the doorway diagonal from where he was seated. Jellal opened his citrine eyes and glanced over in her direction. He didn't even hear her approaching. "Simon just gets under my skin is all."

"You aren't the only one." He gave a small grin and placed his hands behind his head and his feet up on the oak coffee table in front of him.

With a small laugh she joined him on the couch, mirroring how his feet were up on the table. She stared at him with her ginger eyes. "Jellal?" She sounded troubled, like something was bothering her.

"Hmm?" He raised a cobalt brow at her.

"What I said to Simon about… you and I earlier. Do you remember that dialogue exchange?"

He nodded.

"Well truth be told I didn't want to tell anything to him but I do like you Jellal. I like you an awful lot. I like you to the point that being around you just makes me happy and I haven't felt happiness in such a long, long, long time and I forgot how much I missed that feeling."

She bit her bottom lip as she continued to stare at him. Jellal sat up and removed his hands from behind his head, and placed one of his feet on the floor. His granite eyes looked at her delicate face and watched as she leaned a bit closer to him, slowly closing her eyes. He prepared himself and closed his eyes, his lips began to tremble and he leaned in towards her. In that moment, when their lips touched, their world changed. She could feel him, she could taste him, she was him. They knew where to touch and what to say. It was like a dream, it was like they had does this a thousand times before even though it was only their first kiss. Her hands rested on his chest, his were grabbing fistfuls of her hair. He pulled her closer, held her tighter, as if it were the last time. She gladly fought for control with him, their lips moving in perfect sync, their minds branding the feeling into their souls.

"Wait, wait, wait. Erza," Jellal pulled himself away from her slightly, the red head continued to kiss his lips, hungry for him. "Not here."

She pulled away from him with a smile on her face. She stood and grabbed hold of his hand, "I know where we can be alone for the night." Erza pulled him up to his feet and began walking towards the direction of her secluded bedroom. "We'll be left alone there." She smiled at him once more and opened up her bedroom door, leading him inside. Jellal kicked the door shut with his heel and followed her over to her bed. Erza sat down on her bed and pulled Jellal down on top of her. he stroked her cheek and gently kissed her lips. His fingers began to intertwine themselves in the female's long chocolate tresses. He planted soft and delicate kisses on her lips, occasionally nibbling on her bottom lip. She cupped his face with her hands, slowly guiding her fingers into his messy black locks. Jellal pulled away from her, sitting up and removing his armoured top, throwing it carelessly onto the floor behind them. Erza had a very evident pink blush forming on her cheeks as she looked at Jellal's toned chest.

"Sit up." He instructed her with a tone that was much more demanding than his usual tone. The red head nodded and sat up under the man that towered over her. He ran his fingers through her hair, he caressed her cheek and ran his hands up and down her arms. Jellal leaned down and planted a tender kiss on the crook of her neck while he slowly ran his hands up her armored top, slowly removing it and throwing it on the ground behind them, adding to the pile that was just beginning on the floor.

"Jellal," Erza said with her breath, "I… I love you."

He growled hungry and began planting kisses up her jaw line until he reached her lips. His kisses were hungry for her, and her kisses were hungry for him. The ruby haired maiden wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and he gently laid her back on the bed. He was hungry for her and she was hungry for him. She was like a forbidden fruit that he could never have outside of this perfect moment and we was going to savor every single second of it.

* * *

**Author's Note : Sorry I kept everyone waiting for this for such a long time but I've been busy. I hope that this chapter was worth the wait. It seems like our little Jellal is gonna be getting some from the fiery redhead. If you see any mistakes about hair color or eye color please tell me. This is the newest chapter from MY ORIGINAL STORY TURNED FANFICTION. I'm editing my characters to fit the description of Jellal and Erza so I don't always catch every tiny little thing when I do my edits. I wanted this chapter to be out in time for Halloween since it still takes place on that date but I do in fact have something lined up for the holiday so just be patient with me. Anyway, I hope this holds everyone over until chapter five is out. Also, I wanted to point this out before everyone begins to ask: this is the translation of what Erza said in Latin when asking for a contract. The original text is 'O Zeref, dulcis Zeref. Venio ad te in me quod vis audire arcu. Quia nocte ego, alius contractus fiant.' and the translated text is 'Oh Zeref, sweet Zeref. I come to you tonight to ask you what you have for me to fulfill. Because tonight, another contract will be completed.' Well, it's roughly translated to that. At least it gets the point across. Anyway, please leave your reviews (: Love you all.**


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